North Ainericun Cyperacece. 335 
*1\ alpinum, /S. Hudsonianura, Pcrs. syn. 1. p. 70. 
T. Hudsonianum, Nutt. gen. 1. p. 36. 
Rhizoma creeping. Culms numerous, growing in a row, S — ]0 inches 
high, scarcely thicker than a packthread, with very acute scabrous 
angles and concave sides, naked except near the base. Leaves 3 — S 
lines long, pungent, erect, triangular, channelled ; sheaths close, purplish ; 
the lowest ones nearly naked, or with merely cuspidate rudimentary 
leaves. Spike 3 lines long, somewhat cotnpressed. Scales oblong-lan- 
ceolate, obtuse, yellowish-brown; the lowest one bracteiform, submu- 
cronate, nearly as long as the spike. Bristles 4 — 5 times as long as the 
scale, constantly 6, flat and membranaceous, white, more or less crisped, 
fragile. Stamens 3 ? ; filaments capillary, long. Style filiform, 3-cleft 
half-way down. Nut triangular, compressed, acuminated w-ith the base 
of the st3-le, pale brown, dull. 
Hab. Sphagnous swamps, particularly on mountains. 
Danville, Vermont, J. Carey, Esq! ; Stockbridge, Wenham, 
and other parts of Massachusetts, Dr. Emmons! and TV. Oakes, 
Esq!; bogs on the mountains of Pennsylvania, Pursh; White 
Hills of New Hampshire, Dr. Bigelow! ; Northern and Western 
parts of the State of New York, Dr. Gray! — May — June. 
Obs. This Eriophorum differs from all the other single- 
spiked species of the genus in the rigid scales of the spike, and 
in the definite crisped bristles. From the subgenus Tricho- 
phorum it also differs in the texture of the scales, and in the 
flat, less crisped and Vv'hite bristles. The North American plant 
resembles the European E. alpinum in almost every respect. 
2. Eriophorum vagina tum, Linn. 
Culm terete below, obtusely triangular above, somewhat 
rigid; sheaths inflated; spike oblong-ovate ; scales scarious ; 
hairs straight, dense ; anthers linear, elongated. 
E. vaginatum, Linn. ; Willd. sp. 4. p. 312 ; Vahl, enum. 2. p. 388; 
Ram. Sf Schult. syst. 2. p. 157 ; Wahl. Jl. Lapp. p. 17; Spreng. syst. 
1. p. 214 ; Smith, Eng. fi. 1. p. 66 ; Eng. let. t. 873 ; Torr.! /. 1. p. 65; 
Betk! hot. p. 427; Gray ! Gram, ff Cyp. part. 1. no. 88. 
Vol. III. 43 
